It has been policy in the past for Microsoft to retire support for service packs. You can no longer get updates for XP with no service packs (what they call SP0) or with SP1. You must have SP2 in order to get updates. After Patch Tuesday, July 13, 2010 you will have to have SP3 installed in order to get updates for Windows XP. And in fact, if a vulnerability is found in SP2 that is not in SP3, it will not be patched.

Given that SP3 was released in May 2008, this would mean 6 years of updates since the last service pack, which adds up to quite a mess. Deploying a new system under such circumstances requires a large update process. By then we should be on to Windows 8 or 9, but the determination among many of you to keep your XP systems forever seems strong.

Typically, after support is ended for a service pack Microsoft leaves the individual updates in their Download Center, but the automated update systems: Windows Update, Microsoft Update and Windows Software Update Services, no longer will provide updates.

Windows XP was released in October 2001 and has had a very long lifecycle for an operating system. SP2 was released in August 2004 and thus will have a 6 year life, far longer than the typical support life cycle from most vendors.